The Virtues of Selfishness and Altruism
by kiss-of-cuteness
Summary: When the Sorting Hat continues to issue warnings for the students of Hogwarts to unite will any students be able to follow its advice?Two students have the power to bring the school together if they lay aside their hatred for each other.Will they?BZHG
1. The King of Slytherin

**Author's Note** I know I said I wouldn't start a new story until CWM was finished but read the beginning of this and tell me if it does not sound soooo much more interesting.  
For those of you who haven't read any of my other stories welcome.

Everyone who's a Blaise/Hermione shipper, ENJOY!

* * *

If Draco Malfoy was the prince of Slytherin then Blaise Zabini was its king. Outside of the Common Room he let Draco try to rule. Draco's pitiful attempts at superiority made Blaise want to laugh. If you were above everyone else they knew it and you knew it too. You didn't have to parade pompously through the hallways cursing first years. All that showed was that you were desperate to be feared, desperate to by a tyrant, and you never ever would be; at least not to the people that counted.

Blaise reclined lazily on a couch with green upholstery in the Slytherin common room watching the other inhabitants. He knew much more about the actual characters of the students than even their closest friends did; or closest allies to be more precise. Slytherins did not have friends. During the first few years of his schooling at Hogwarts Blaise had kept solely to himself, watching everyone and talking to no one. By the time he had reached his sixth year he was cognizant of what each Slytherin meant when they said something, the tensions between housemates, and the fact that he held a certain sway over girls. He had flung off his cloak of imperceptibility and had emerged as the leader of a coup d'etat that had flung Malfoy off the throne.

* * *

Hermione tucked a strand of curly hair behind her ear and looked up from her piece of parchment. The school had only been in session for one day and her hands were already ink blotted. Hermione had been named Head Girl, and she planned to live up to her duties. After the Welcome Feast had concluded the previous night she had had a talk with Professor Dumbledore and the new Head Boy: Ernie MacMillan. Every year since her fifth year, when Umbridge appeared, the Sorting Hat had been warning the students of the dangers of staying divided, yet none of the students had taken a step towards becoming united. Hermione had wanted to do something but did not believe any talk she could give would be as poignant or as generally accepted as the Sorting Hat's song. In between filing and taking floo-messages for the Order Hermione had thought of a way to change the school. When she had received a beautiful school owl bearing the Head Girl badge it had cemented her idea into brain. Albus had readily agreed to it and Ernie and concurred with her opinion.

Even if the Sorting Hat had made a more interesting speech than the one she was currently writing, she doubted its words would speak as loud as her actions. She had begun to write her speech soon after she had received word of her appointment to the position of Head Girl. Standing in front of a mirror she had practiced it daily without fail. The mirror had once belonged to Mrs. Black so the comments it had made were nasty. Hermione had smiled though and run through it again, memorizing it but even more importantly, putting passion, feeling, depth and emotion into every word which graced the page. Tonight she was putting the finishing touches on it and tomorrow she would present.

Lavender and Parvati had the red curtains drawn away from their beds. Magazines entitled _Teen Witch_ and _Fabulous Fashion _already littered the floor. Neither girl had thought to unpack any of her schoolbooks. The bookshelf was austere. Both vanities though were piled with every type of make-up that had ever existed. Not only did the basic lipstick and mascara hold places of honour, the magical means to beauty were also there.

"Oh my god," Lavender giggled. "Did you see that Zabini boy this year? He's utterly gorgeous. I wanted to go over to the Slytherin table and ravish him."

"You wouldn't have though." Parvati had a few more brains than Lavender, Hermione was glad to remember. "I'm going to kiss him this year." Hermione grimaced, no more than a few.

"HERMIONE!" Lavender squealed when she first noticed Hermione enter the room. "You look absolutely stunning!"

Hermione smiled her thanks to Lavender but didn't take the compliment to heart. Lavender complimented anything and everything; she had a need for everybody to like her and felt that being a sycophant was the best way to attain her goal. Hermione had never straightened her gloriously free hair since the fourth-year Yule Ball, but her teeth were straight now and when she smiled she was pretty. She would never be stunning though. This didn't hurt her feelings in the slightest, her confidence was strong and she didn't need the praise of others to attain happiness.

* * *

"I hate the Sorting Hat," Draco complained. "All it does is sing stupid songs and waste our time. They should sort the first-years on the train or something and let us get at the feast right away. Those carriage rides always make me bloody hungry."

Blaise didn't lower himself to answer. He enjoyed the Sorting Ceremony both for the tradition it brought to the school and for the song itself. Blaise had never believed that the hat was stupid or brainless. In fact, he had more respect for it than he had for many of the students. It appeared to him that he was the only student, in Slytherin at least, that had noticed the dire warnings the Hat had dropped for the third year in a row, woven between tales of the special qualities of each founder.

Pansy didn't dare disagree with Draco. She wanted to marry him. That was her only goal in life. If she married him she would gain wealth, notoriety, and a high social status in society. Millicent however didn't care about Draco or his feelings. "Is food all you ever think about? I thought you had a little more than that in your head. I can't wait to see how you do in your NEWTs this year, especially after being so disappointed in your OWLs. I quite like the Sorting Hat. He was very nice to me when I got to try him on that once."

Listening to the conversation Blaise knew that Draco did not really mean what he had said. It was a plea for others to listen, to see that he was capable of thinking for himself. The only problem was his thoughts didn't have good reasoning behind them and somebody arguing in favour of the Sorting Hat could crush his weak opinions easily. The one thing Blaise did not understand about the trio in front of him was why Pansy wanted to marry Draco. He understood her need to feel more powerful than she already was but couldn't comprehend how that could take precedence over love. Blaise's mother had shown him love, compassion and kindness. He envisioned her as an angelic being with the beauty of Aphrodite but not her cruelty. She had died when Blaise was young and he had no ability to recall her face, all that was left on him were the impressions of her ability to make the sun shine in everybody's lives. He also remembered that he had been loved. Loved for who he was, just as he was. Blaise knew that if he ever found another person who loved him like that he would be theirs unconditionally.

* * *

A/N... So, what'd you think? A little out of my normal but I couldn't resist. This was a sort of introduction to the characters, especially Blaise. The plot will deepen, and in future chapters see if you can spot some famous philosophies that I am going to throw together and mix up.

I offer hot chocolate to anyone who feels like naming the author of "The virtue of Selfishness" (Not me of course, and one thing, I don't agree on all her views, I just liked the name of her paper)

Read and review because you Love me, that's right L O V E me!


	2. Something Switches

**A/N** First of all I have to say thank you to the incredible review respons, I have NEVER had 20 reviews in one chapter, I can't believe the BZHG following is so big.

Also, to anybody who doesn't know me, my updating habits are terrible, I am not abandoning this story, I'm just lazy.

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts." -Winston Churchill

II

Hermione straightened her skirt in an attempt to bolster her self-assurance. Since her decision to talk to the student body at dinner had been made she had been running over her speech constantly. The words became lyrics on a broken record that refused to stop repeating itself. Unite… take the first step… make a difference…. As she walked towards the teachers' table she felt eyes of every colour upon her back. No student, aside from Ernie MacMillan, knew what she was going to do, and every resident of Hogwarts was interested.

Putting on a brave smile she began to talk. "Good-evening teachers and fellow students. Most of you know my as the Head Girl, the know-it-all, or Harry Potter's best female friend." She paused to give a nod to Harry and their other best friend Ron. "However, I have a name, my name is Hermione Granger and I am a Gryffindor. Upon saying this I know you will make assumptions; I am brave, I will stand up for what I believe in, and I am proud. These are all true. The house Gryffindor does not define me though, like the Ravenclaws I have intelligence, Hufflepuffs share my loyalty, and like the Slytherins I am determined." Pausing for a second, Hermione let her words sink into the students who were listening to her raptly. "Voldemort," she stopped once again to allow the collective gasp to subside, "has come among us. Once again I will say that fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself and so, to abate my fear, I use his name. Voldemort seeks to strike discord among us, without each other we will not prevail against his tyranny. Since the end of my fourth year, when Voldemort first returned in the flesh, the Sorting Hat has been issuing warnings amongst us to stand together. I echo the words of John Dickinson who said, 'By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall.' We need to unite. I know this will not be easy; we will have to overcome our prejudices and prejudgments of each other. I would like to encourage each of you by taking the first step. And I mean that literally."

Taking a deep breath to instill courage into her heart she stepped down from the raised dais on which the teachers sat and she had made her speech from. Instead of taking the route that lead directly to the Gryffindor table she turned and began a dramatic walk, her head held high, towards the Ravenclaw table. When she reached it the students continued to look at her, not understanding what she was doing. Sighing with irritation that the smartest students could be so dense Hermione raised her voice so that it spread to every corner of the room.

"May I please sit here?" The students sat in consternation; they were shocked and bewildered by this turn of events. Sitting at another House's table was something that had never been done before, and because of tradition, no one had ever even thought of doing it.

Blaise leaned forward slightly in anticipation. He was positive that the Ravenclaw students would allow Hermione to sit with them but he wanted to be able to have a clear view of who was the first to shift over and what the others' reactions would be. When Hermione had taken the first step towards the Ravenclaw table his senses had instantly been heightened. Blaise had a need to be cognizant of all the events taking place at the school and, due to his observance he knew many secrets that were believed to be absolutely clandestine.

Luna Lovegood blinked as a shadow fell over her plate. She turned around to see what was obstructing the light and noticed Hermione Granger standing behind her. Luna had listened to the speech in her own detached way so she wasn't aware of what Hermione was trying to do. "Hello."

"Hi Luna, would you mind if I sat beside you?"

Not finding the request as strange as Blibbering Humdingers Luna shifted in her seat without questioning Hermione. Hermione sighed with relief as she lifted her legs over the bench. The Great Hall did not resume the cacophony associated with dinner, instead the students sat in silence. Most of them were too circumspect to look straight at Hermione, but they all gave her short glances while pretending to be idly looking around. Lavender and Parvati had whipped out their make-up bags.

"Why do you need make-up now?" asked Ron, keeping his voice low so that he wouldn't break the silence.

"To see. Obviously." Parvati was rather irritated at the stupidity of boys.

"Yourself?" Ron still looked confused.

"Hermione," Lavender hissed. "Be quiet, we don't want her to know we're watching her."

"This is ridiculous," Harry interrupted. "All she did was sit at the Ravenclaw table."

"Harry," Parvati addressed him as if she was talking to a two year old. "Can you remember anyone sitting at another table? Ever?"

"No, but there's a first for everything, and a second." Harry abruptly stood up and headed over to the Hufflepuff table. If his best friend had the courage to try and make a difference, then so did he. The Hufflepuff table was closest to the entrance and exit to the Great Hall. Nobody thought anything was out of the ordinary until Harry sat down. The Hufflepuffs he had chosen to sit with knew what was happening after watching Hermione. They quickly squeezed together to make room for Harry.

Many students at Hogwarts idolized Harry Potter; his move was greeted with a deafening applause from his admirers. Other students began to stand tentatively and tried to motion for their friends to do so also. Harry's display had done more than Hermione's did, nobody wanted to be seen as supporters of You-Know-Who so when the poster-boy for the Light changed seats, so did they.

Millicent went to stand up. She was known as the dissenter among the Slytherins, Blaise was not surprised at her choice. He would not forbid her to go but he would not give her his outright support. He trusted her but did not want to be involved with the consequences of her decisions.

Inter-house unity sounded fine in a speech, but in practice it was impractical. Students were raised from childhood to believe that they would be put in a certain house; many glorified their prospective houses before they even arrived at Hogwarts and had paraphernalia purchased in Diagon Alley hanging on their bedroom walls before they were eight.

Draco's pale hand clamped tightly around Millicent's shoulder, his fingers dug deeply into her soft flesh. "Sit," he commanded, his voice attempting to emanate the domination that Snape exuded. His words had no effect on her. Blaise also knew that Draco could not impose his wishes with physical force, as Millicent was larger and stronger than him.

"Do not touch me, Draco." Her words were stressed, each one enunciated for emphasis. "You cannot tell me what to do."

"Millicent," his voice became pleading. "Sit down, please. Leave us Slytherin's some honour."

The pair's altercation had the entire Slytherin table watching. "Slytherin's have no honour," she replied neatly. "We do what is best for ourselves, and I am going to ally myself with Potter and his friends." With that she swung her legs over the bench and walked over to the Gryffindor table.

Ron Weasley had not joined his friends in switching tables, some Gryffindors had to stay with the Gryffindor table after all. He wished Hermione had told him about her idea before going through with it; he hadn't had any time to adjust. Looking up briefly from his food he noticed a large girl in Slytherin colours walking purposefully towards his table.

He recognized her. Millicent Bulstrode, the only female who looked more like a male than most of the boys. When he realized that she had been the cause of Hermione turning into a cat in their second year he decided to tell her she couldn't sit at the Gryffindor table. "There's no room here, go sit somewhere else."

Millicent's nostrils flared in anger. How dare he talk to her as if she was inferior to him. She decided not to retaliate immediately but her shoulders and neck had stiffened with the effort it took to keep herself from punching him. "I thought you Gryffindors were attempting to promote inter-house unity?"

"Within reason. After all, which house wants to be friends with an entire crew of vicious murderers?" Ron knew he had gone too far with the statement and become conscious of the fact that Hermione would be extremely angry if she found out. He was about to retract his words but Millicent had already turned her back to him. He did not want to apologize to her and justified himself by going over the fact that most Slytherins were evil and she was probably just trying to confuse him so he had been right to refuse her.

Hermione smiled happily as she looked around the hall. Most house tables had people from various houses sitting at them. All the Slytherins were still at the Slytherin table. She knew it was her duty to try and include them but she couldn't bring herself to do it. They had made her life as miserable as possible for six years now, and probably had no intention to stop for their last year in school. Hermione would never sit with the Slytherins.

A/N. The end... just joking, I'm warming up. This wasn't one of my favourite chapters, but unfortunately they don't come until later on in the story. If you have any questions about the characters feel free to post them in your reviews and I'll try and answer them.

I would like to invite everyone reading my story to join the forum FICTION NET found at sycotic. Org/fnet It's a great Harry Potter website where a ton of aspiring writers hang out and chat about all things, including all things harry potter. Register and don't forget to get sorted into a house, it's competitive, say kissofcuteness or sierra sent you and hopefully I will see some of you in Slytherin

**Shout Outs:  
**Thanks to: Elizabeth Bilberry, psychoravenclaw, anguish, sortinghat086, excuse me Mr. Mister, HPfreak2gd4U, blaiselover, Liam O'Mallon, professionaldooropener, kePPIE, robin777, flairVerona, Charolastras, and Alenorfor taking time to click on the review button and make my day super happy.

**Angel-Girl-1103** - I feel so special. Thanks for reviewing the first chapter, please continue to do so for every chapter :P  
**FarDeep** - You don't love me? I'm hurt, actually in pain, I thought I was beloved by the entire world. Thanks about loving my story though, it's affiliated with me so I think some of the love filters through  
**Mage-Aurian:** Dearly beloved sister, thank you for writing such a long and thoughtful review, especially the part about me eloping with Goyle. And the word's philosophical  
**Mel**: Your review was really thoughtful, thank you so much for taking the time to give me such positive feedback. I really like Blaise and hopefully I'll be able to continue writing him to your satisfaction. I was a little lax on him in this chapter but he returns next chapter.  
**CareBearErin: **I felt so deep when I read your review, high praise!  
**Nova-Janna** - I was hoping for the new perspective so thanks for noticing it.


	3. The Grass is Greener on the Other Side

**A/N At long last! Hopefully this is a much anticipated moment. Enjoy**

III

The Slytherins warily watched Millicent return to their wooden table. Her square jaw was pushed forward in defiance of the whispers that had started when she had turned around. She had taken a stand but lost face with her comrades. If the Slytherins deemed Millicent un-useful, she'd find herself eating in the girl's bathroom until she had proved herself worthy once again. She reached her table and attempted to stare down the rigid youths who had lived by a Code for so long. Rule Number 78: Always make sure you know what is in it for you – always. The Slytherins at the table did not know how allowing her to sit beside with them would bring them a profit, so they sat impassively.

Blaise had always liked Millicent, even if she wasn't very smart. She danced a waltz when the others were polkaing. She was the wild card in every Slytherin scheme. Most students tried to stay on her good side. None became her allies. Blaise had known she was going to go too far in her attempt to ally herself with the golden trio. She started too big, sitting at the Hufflepuff table would have been a better start, and Potter was already over there.

Blaise's one foible was that he loved to antagonize the other Slytherin's in any way possible. Every once in a while he'd pull out a red scarf and wear it around the common room, it wouldn't do to let other houses see it but it put his own off-balance; a simple form of amusement.

Draco was trying to regain some of his authority in his rejection of Millicent. He appraised her coolly then deliberately began talking to Pansy. The corners of Blaise's mouth began to raise themselves slowly. He had perfect teeth and knew the effect of his smile.

"Millicent," he said smoothly, "did the Gryffindors not have any horseradisheither? We should complain about the house elves." While talking he had shifted in his seat to make room for her if she squeezed. He wasn't allowing her back into Slytherin without a bit of a struggle.

Picking up on his charade Millicent agreed. "It's terrible. They act like they have rights or something."

The Slytherin table reluctantly stopped looking at Millicent, now they all had to pretend she had done nothing except ask for horseradish, even though a bottle was clearly in front of her. Draco clenched his fists in anger, he didn't dare make a scene. Blaise sensed that Draco was getting sick of being usurped at every occasion.

Blaise finished his meal in silence. He would rather listen than talk.

Hermione looked around the great hall, her view altered from her new seat. At first she thought no one would follow her example but when Harry moved she began to hope again. The response of the school had been more than anything she had expected. When she observed each table in turn it didn't appear to be greatly altered. The only major difference was that the students' ties didn't all match. Hermione resolved to sit with the Hufflepuffs at breakfast.

Blaise had slowly chewed his food, savouring each bite. In addition to tasting the food better, his deliberate method of eating gave him more time to think. He knew the Sorting Hat was right, if the good side were to win the students of Hogwarts would need the help of all the houses. However, a good many Slytherins fought for the Dark Lord. Blaise didn't want to declare himself one-way or another After all Rule 7 of the Slytherin Code of Conduct stated 'The grass is greener on the other side… but there is no grass, at all, on the fence.' He decided that he would extend an alliance towards Hermione Granger and her Gryffindors, yet still stay close to those who served the Dark Lord. When the decision was made he left the table to wait for Granger.

Hermione finished her dinner and was hard pressed to stop smiling. She was so excited about the success of her venture. _If something this small makes me this happy I wonder how I'll feel when I discover a new spell or potion to help in the war effort._ She made eye contact with Harry and Ron and motioned that she was leaving. They both stood up to join her.

"Well done Hermione!" Harry said warmly while giving her a quick hug.

Hermione beamed, indulging in the praise she had received. Harry had grown up, leaving behind his adolescent stage in which he believed the wizarding world revolved around him and had to pay attention to his temper tantrums. His image, the orphaned, wild haired, green-eyed boy remained the same but on the inside he had started to become worthy of the nobility of heart that Dobby accredited him to. Ron gave her a lopsided grin but felt too guilty about turning Millicent away to join in with the positive remarks.

Blaise Zabini leaned against a stone column near the exit of the Great Hall, waiting for Hermione to pass by. His insolent pose went unnoticed by most students. Nobody opened their eyes wide enough to see someone they had never spoken to or acknowledged. He didn't mind, actually, he preferred it. Blaise would rather be a cat, silent and predatory, than an over-large puppy that didn't know when to stop yapping.

He watched her as she took multiples steps to keep up with Harry and Ron's longer strides. Sandwiched between the two she kept up an animated conversation and gesticulated wildly to dramatize her point. As she drew nearer to him he stepped away from the pillar. He waited until the trio was in front of him then reached out and grabbed Hermione's arm without warning. She uttered a startled shriek.

Blaise looked calmly at Harry and Ron. "I'm borrowing her," he said. His voice had so much authority that Harry and Ron didn't think to question it until he began to leave the Great Hall with Hermione. Blaise continued to hold her wrist as he took her out of the Great Hall and into an empty classroom. Harry and Ron looked at each other and then in a moment of synchronization ran for Professor McGonagall.

"Let go of me!" Hermione cried. She snatched her wrist back so suddenly she stumbled a few steps. Blaise made no motion to assist her. If I ever wanted to use the words 'Unhand me, cad!' I just missed my chance Hermione mused briefly. Then remembering where she was she spoke. "What do you want?" Her tone allowed for no prevarication.

Mellifluously Blaise replied, "To talk to you."

"Why on earth did you pull me away in front of my friends? They'll be worried to no end and will torment me with questions," she cried in exasperation.

"I thought it would be better," Blaise admitted without remorse. He showed no agitation, his slender hands rested at his sides. He did not shift from side to side or fiddle with the buttons on his shirt. He looked steadily at Hermione.

"You thought it would be better?" Hermione parroted his words but used her own enunciation and stressed different syllables. 'You,' 'thought' and 'better' stood out significantly. Her voice rose until it had become a shrill echo of its normal pitch.

Blaise began to speak slowly, pronouncing each syllable distinctly, as if he were speaking with a five year old. "Yes, I thought. If you had thought you also would have realized why it was better I pulled you away from your friends."

"Don't patronize me!" Hermione's face had contorted when he talked down to her. Her grades were better than his! "If you knew Ron half as well as I do, or had seen him in a snit, then you'd realize that he will be angry about me having a meeting with a Slytherin."

"He'd be angrier if he found out that you had a clandestine meeting with a Slytherin." He gave Hermione time to retort but she didn't take it, so Blaise continued. "Are you worried right now?"

"Of course not. You're not going to attack me right now and, if you did, my friends would know who I was last with and where to look for me."

"Exactly." Blaise tried to resist the mocking grin his mouth had begun to form; he barely succeeded.

Hermione stood in shocked silence. He had gotten the best of her. Well he was a Slytherin, and they weren't known for being honest like Gryffindors. Swallowing her pride she decided that if she wanted House integration to become a reality she would have to listen to this Slytherin. "Fine then Zabini, you have me. Now what do you want?"

"Like I said, to talk," Blaise said, spreading his fingers in a gesture of innocence.

Hermione crossed her arms and looked steadily at him.

"I'm not stupid. I know what you said at dinner had merit." Hermione's eyes widened. "Slytherins are going to be needed if you want to pull down the Dark Lord. A lot won't be interested in your proposition because of their ridiculous ideas on social status, but as a true Slytherin I want to be on the winning side, and yours seems to be it."

"You don't think of us Muggleborns as Mudbloods?" Hermione asked. She did not want to accept his explanation and resorted to baiting him. She may have requested House unity, but she had never really considered how her role with the Slytherins would change.

"Well I'm certainly not going to call you a Pureblood!" He replied instantly. "Every person has the opportunity to make something of themselves. They shouldn't rely on calling Purebloods racist to get them through life. If they can succeed in what they want to do then I respect them. Everyone is responsible for their own future"

Hermione nodded, not speaking, her mind was a tangled web. Threads of new ideas, reactions, perceptions, and prejudices snarled together to make a knot that she would have difficulty unpicking.

A/N – I really enjoyed writing this chapter, I love this story, I'm just lazy. Get used to it, actually you probably already have. Thank you to my lovely beta that did this chapter (and the other ones but I'm ridiculously slothful and will probably never fix them) her name is (drum roll please) Rochelle. You can find her wonderful story My Immortal under her pen name rochele88. Also, check out a forum we're both members of, for writers, fanfiction authors and artists (as well as HP fans) www . sycotic . org / fnet Please review as well, it makes me do a happy dance. I just read that I can't do personal reviews, but I'll try to reply to everyone's. Bye kisses


	4. Hello

A/N - See, I'm getting quicker! Lots of loff, or lurv to HotPinkHeels for making commentary (not at ALL useful) while I wrote this. Enjoy.

IV

Harry restrained Ron as he struggled to chase after Hermione and Blaise.

"HARRY! Let me go!" Ron attempted to punch his friend. Harry sighed in resignation. He let go. Ron's momentum took him across the hall, his arms wind milling until he smacked into the Hufflepuff table. He careened across it, sending food in every direction, most often at people, until he stopped midway along the lengthy table. His pale skin darkened to a near tomato red. "I'm sorry. Really sorry. Sorry," he muttered as he attempted to get off the table. His foot slipped on spilled pumpkin juice; making him lose the balance he had gained. Once again Ron found himself prostrate – this time on the floor. A dejected pile of humiliation he picked himself up, tenaciously holding on the need to stop Blaise from harassing Hermione.

"Ron," Harry spoke plainly. "Hermione _can_ look after herself. Blaise probably wanted to speak to her about her unity idea. She does want to interact with people from other houses."

Ron had a stubborn streak. "We have to wait for her at least. We'll stay outside the door." Harry eyed him askance. "I promise I won't listen or anything." An eyebrow was raised. "Promise!"

"A promise is a promise," Harry pronounced solemnly.

The two boys had no opportunity to listen. When they reached the door Blaise was striding out of it. He glanced at Harry and Ron while inclining his head. Harry nodded back; Ron just stared.

Hermione followed Blaise out of the room, chewing her bottom lip. Glancing up she noticed her friends. "He wants to be amiable, I think. Well what he actually said was that he wanted to be on the winning side, which, for him, appears to be ours."

"Currently," Ron noted rebelliously. "What happens if it looks like the other side might win?"

"Then I suppose we'll lose him," Hermione mused. "We really do need him though Ron. Nobody else from Slytherin has given us any show of support."

Ron blushed guiltily. Millicent had. He pushed that from his mind, she was probably, no, she was Slytherin scum. Period.

Harry then queried, "What do we have to do to be 'amiable'?"

"It's not as if we fight openly with Blaise. I think saying hello in the hallways will be enough to start. _Unity," _she spoke the password to enter the Gryffindor Common Room. "Think on it boys, I'll see you in the morning, I'm exhausted, and I still need to knit a few more hats."

Smiling inwardly the boys waved her off to bed.

Hermione was awake early the following morning. If she ate quickly she would have time to visit the library before classes started. She headed towards her usual spot and then remembered she had resolved to sit at the Hufflepuff table. Few students were awake so she had no difficulty finding an available spot. Quickly finishing her toast and raspberry jam she swung her book bag over her shoulder and started out towards the library with a swift gait.

A heavy footfall joined hers. "Good morning, Hermione," Blaise smiled pleasantly at her.

"Hello Zabini," Hermione replied curtly.

"Blaise, please," he requested.

"Hello Blaise."

"How are you?" he inquired politely.

"Fine thank you," she replied stiffly.

"Well then, I'll see you in class, shall I?"

"I suppose so." Hermione continued walking straight while Blaise veered left at the next corner.

Encounters like these continued for several weeks. Hermione was rigid, she didn't want to repel Blaise, but neither did she have any desire to bring him closer. Blaise unrelentingly remained the gentleman. Hermione was sitting at the Gryffindor table; she now took turns, alternating between Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, when Blaise slid in beside her.

"Good Morning, Hermione." He remarked affably.

"What are you doing here?" she asked quickly. She had a good guess though. Ron had been owled by his parents the night before; the Order had apprehended several Death Eaters.

"Slytherin's not feeling too well this morning. I didn't want to get sick as well," he replied, insinuating the truth.

"I heard quite a few of them had colds," she retorted picking up on the game.

"Well, I know you hold the box of tissues."

She nodded then returned to her breakfast. They sat in silence, slowly munching on their toast.

"Hermione, I really have to thank you," Harry spoke appreciatively.

"Why? Did you pass your essay?"

"No," Hermione's face dropped, "not that I failed," he added, "I just haven't gotten it back. Actually I am thanking you because I have a date."

"And this is my doing?" She asked, waiting for an answer.

"Well, I've been sitting at the Hufflepuff table a lot recently. I've become quite good friends with some of them."

"And…"

"Well friends, and I sort of fancy Susan, you remember her right? She was in the D.A. So I asked her to go with me to the Hogsmeade this weekend and she said yes."

"That's wonderful Harry!" Hermione was inordinately pleased with herself. This was what the Houses needed to do. Seeing the effort Harry had made Hermione resolved to be nicer to Blaise.

"Good morning Blaise." Hermione gave Blaise a slight shock by addressing him first. Blaise instantly began to analyze the situation. Why had she addressed him first? He couldn't outright ask her, that wasn't sneaky enough for Slytherin, besides, he would be able to figure it out himself.

"Good morning Hermione. How are you?" He hoped his usual question would be answered by more than the usual 'Fine, thank you." His perseverance was rewarded.

"Quite well, thank you. Just studying a bit more for our arithmacy test."

"I think it might be a bit tricky. How hard did you find question six on the review?"

"Oh it was monstrous. I felt like wrestling a giant instead of doing it." Hermione agreed emphatically.

"It honestly took me an hour to figure out." Blaise decided to see how far his luck would take him. "Do you think you could go over it with me at lunch? I don't want to have to take an hour on one question during the test."

Hermione paused before she answered. Then she remembered Harry and Susan. "Sure." She smiled warmly. "I have to run to Transfiguration now, though. Where should we meet?"

"Does the table in the back of the library suit you? It's near the Muggle literature section."

"That sounds fine. I'll see you then." Hermione felt like skipping away. She waved at all the portraits and even listened to Viola tell how the Fat Lady had informed her that Harry Potter, yes, yes, Hermione's friend Harry Potter, had asked Susan Bones out. Maybe the Houses would be able to unite.

The only Gryffindor still stubbornly sitting at the Gryffindor table every meal was Ron. Ron had stubbornly refused to even consider moving seats. This meant that the three friends were often only together for one meal of the day, if that. He asserted that traditionally Gryffindors sat with Gryffindors and would hear nothing else.

"Now you sound like Umbridge, Ron!" Hermione had shouted exasperatedly one night. "Progress for the sake of progress shouldn't be encouraged. This isn't just for fun Ron, we need these ties, these bonds to last outside of school. We need everyone to stand up, together, against Voldemort."

Blaise arrived at the library first. Choosing his seat he began to muse over what he had learned; being a confidante with most of the portraits certainly paid off. Apparently Potter had asked Susan Bones out – and she had said yes. Hermione was the best at everything; she wouldn't want Harry to outdo her. He smiled slowly at his excellent deductive abilities. A strand of hair fell into his face. Shaking his hair loose, he quickly retied his dark hair into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. Blaise turned back to his notes and glanced over them while he waited; after all, he really did need help.

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**A/N - So what'd you think? I like the Hermione/Blaise interaction a lot. What do you think of the characters, are the OOC? Please Read and Review. There's a pretty button on the bottom left**

Nova Janna - I'm really trying to make each viewpoint strong and ultimately unique.  
Hotpinkheels - Glad to make you think -for once!

I'll make attempts to reply to each reviewer individually with the new reply button :)

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